Spitz/Sayonara Ponytail - Sora mo Toberu Hazu (空も飛べるはず)

If you could fly through the sky, would you do it, and why?

The first time I listened to "Sora mo Toberu Hazu" was around 2012, when the anime "Tsuritama" was aired. It was one of the first anime series I followed weekly, and it means a lot to me, because it brought me closer to one of my oldest groups of friends, and also to my boyfriend.

The version used as the ending of "Tsuritama" is a cover by the girl group Sayonara Ponytail (さよならポニーテール) and it's very soft and whispery. I always loved how well it went with the visuals of the ending sequence and the particular use of the keyboard in the instrumental.

Only a few years later I was introduced to the original version of the song, by Spitz (スピッツ), which is one of their trademark tunes. It was originally released in 1994 and it's included in the appropriately named album "Sora no Tobikata" ("How to fly through the sky"), from the same year. It is penned by Spitz vocalist Masamune Kusano, as usual with their songs, and arranged by the band members themselves.

I took the opportunity to take a look around the Wikipedia page and found out "Sora mo Toberu Hazu" reached 1st place in the Oricon charts. It is frequently used as a graduation song in Japan, which seems fitting, since the lyrics of the song strike me as being a reminiscence of youth and past encounters.

The song isn't actually part of the anime "Honey and Clover", unlike a few other known tunes from Spitz, but it was this series that introduced me to the band. Its themes revolve strongly around the songs of the group and at the time, I found it really interesting. It's not usual to see a series being based so intensely in music (about that matter, I've still got to read the manga "Slow Motion wo Mou Ichido", and maybe talk a bit about it here someday).

Panasonic

After a few years of not giving it a listen, this song popped out in my head a few days ago. Remember Go Zeela, from my last post? I was thinking about her having said she was leaving BiS to "fly through the sky". And today, her old BiS friend Pour Lui quoted the lyrics of this exact tune... Well, if I could fly through the sky right now, I would be going straight to Tokyo to thank Pour Lui personally for creating BiS and for being such a good friend to my most beloved idol.

P.S.: J-Canuck also wrote a post about this same song and the same two groups! Link here.